The Viciousness of Hawks and Falcons
(Internet Published) Mar 2001
Once these pests acquire the taste for pigeon flesh, it is on the top of
their menu. It's the same with rats and cats, which will go to any extremes
to get at the pigeons.
The true story by a local Sheffield man tells of the extremely vicious side
of birds of prey. This man purchased a female Harris Hawk at the princely
cost of £400 or about $600 US. He built a large aviary for this bird and at
a later date he bought a male Harris Hawk at about the same price; his idea
was to produce young ones that he hoped could be sold at profit to recover
his outlay plus extra money. Well, his mercenary plan went wrong.
In passing I will compare certain people who buy into certain strains of
Tipplers, not with the idea of trying to create new records but to make
profit from sales of the offspring of original English or Irish stock.
However, this is the way it was.
The introduced male Harris Hawk seemed to be accepted by the female, the
female being twice the size of the male. All seemed to be well but on the
morning of the fourth day the male had disappeared. After investigation, it
was obvious that the female had eaten the male. The few remains of him were
barely recognisable among the floor litter.
Rather an expensive meal at £400 considering that I can make a thick beef
sandwich for less than £1 (and that includes mustard)!
Now, the immortal words of William Shakespeare come to my mind - "The best
laid plans of mice and men are apt to go astray".